15: Chapter 13, You Marry Him?
15: Chapter 13, You Marry Him?
“Where are the legs?” the old man asked.
Tang Fei bent down to search for Phoenix’s legs…
“I was talking about rabbit legs.” the old man grumbled.
Seeing the lewd look in the lad’s eyes, even if soone’s legs were long and slender, you couldn’t just keep gazing at them…
“I gave them to An Ning.” Tang Fei casually said.
“Again?
Again?” the old man scolded irritably: “A beggar playing host, feigning generosity in poverty.”
Tang Fei glanced at the old man, with a cold laugh, he said, “How co the bag of cassava I dug up last ti has only half left now?”
“Of course, it was eaten.
We have so many mouths at ho, and with Little Fatty being such a glutton, is it a surprise we ate quickly?
That’s perfectly normal.” The old man raised his voice defensively, his pride clearly wounded.
“I saw it at Aunt Cheng’s house.” Little Fatty said with an innocent smile.
Afraid to anger the old man, he whispered, “When I went to the kitchen to get a knife for chopping the rabbit legs, I found the half bag of cassava in the corner…
I don’t recognize cassava, but the bag it was in is ours…
Big brother marked it with charcoal ash.”
The old man glared fiercely at Little Fatty, this betrayer, and hastened to explain to Tang Fei, “I thought, since we have plenty of at at ho, the two-headed sheep you carried back last ti has not been finished…
and now we have an extra Red-eyed Rabbit…”
“Besides, you two young lads both like eating at and don’t care for cassava…
How much can I eat alone?
It so happened that Aunt Cheng ca over to help tidy up, fixing up your clothes and shoes with holes, even weaving new insoles for you two from old fabric, planning to sew so cotton shoes with animal skin…”
“Don’t be fooled by the current heat, in two months it’s going to cool down, and the snow could be knee-deep…
How do we get through winter without a pair of fur cotton shoes?”
“When have we ever scorned cassava in our ho?
When we’ve been hungry, we’ve had our share of grass root soup, haven’t we?
Little Fatty was close to chewing on tree bark…”
Tang Fei waved his hand dismissively, saying, “Forget it, forget it.
It’s been given, so let it be.
We didn’t say anything, right?
Little Fatty and I gave openly, unlike so who gift stealthily…
What’s so shaful about it?
Feeling guilty as a thief?”
“I didn’t I have not you’re falsely accusing …” the old man stamred, flustered.
Seeing the strange looks from Tang Fei, Little Fatty, and that new woman, the old man felt his explanations were incredibly weak.
The dirty laundry between n and won, the more you try to clean it up, the more it spreads, because most people would rather believe you ‘have’ rather than you haven’t…
If you haven’t, then it’s no fun at all and doesn’t satisfy the public’s voyeuristic curiosity.
“Think what you want.” the old man said defiantly, with a scoundrel’s shrug, “I said I didn’t sleep, and I didn’t.
Besides, what if I did?
Even if I did, it was for your two cotton shoes that I offered my beautiful body…”
Tang Fei looked at him with disdain and said, “Don’t flatter yourself.
Even if you wanted to, Aunt Cheng might not welco you.
With her looks and figure, there’s no shortage of n after her…
Your turn wouldn’t co up.”
I could refuse, but you can’t say I am not capable.
n fear most being told they’re not capable.
So, the old man desperately explained, “I just didn’t want to, that’s all.
If I had wanted to, Aunt Cheng would already be your godmother…
Back in the day, I was also called the ‘double pride’ of the Empire…”
As he nostalgically rembered the past, the old man’s mood sank and beca somber.
Anxious not to pique further curiosity, Little Fatty need not worry, you could feed him lines and he still wouldn’t be able to string two and two together.
But Tang Fei was too quick-witted, able to infer whole stories from the slightest hints, deducing countless details from re traces.
He could figure out exactly how many legs a centipede had; devilishly clever, and not one to be easily fooled.
Not at all like his dad, rather, just like his mom, who was known as the ‘pride’ of the Empire…
And Phoenix, this delicate guest from afar in New Star, though their acquaintance had not been long, so clues could still be gathered from her words and actions – she was not one to be trifled with either.
The more you speak, the more you slip – he understood this principle.
He understood it more deeply than anyone else, the pain was skin deep, bone-chilling.
“The ‘double pride’ of the Empire what?” Tang Fei asked.
Sure enough, he caught the old man’s slip and pursued for details.
Phoenix’s eyes also glead with intrigue, appraising the wiry and sowhat sleazy-looking elder.
“In my youth, I was known as the ‘twin hero’ of the Empire, the ‘flower of the Milky Way,’ the image spokesperson for Blue Star.” the old man said earnestly, “I’m not bragging, I was quite a looker back then.
Anyone who saw had to give a thumbs up for a graceful, handso young man…
The won who fancied , from eighteen to eighty, could circle around Blue Star, more terrifying than the sales of a delicious milk tea…”
Sure enough, when soone prefaces with “I’m not bragging,” every sentence that follows is pure bragging.
“Pah!” Tang Fei scoffed.
“Shaless!” Little Fatty muttered under his breath.
Phoenix’s eyes, filled with inquiry, instantly faded away.
It seed she had thought too much about it.
Co to think of it, how could an old man she randomly t atop the ruins possibly be so important figure?
How could he possibly have anything to do with the Empire?
“n from the Old Land sure love to brag!”
Phoenix silently added a new label to Old Land in her heart.
“Although I can’t believe a word you say, I have co to one conclusion from your evasive answers,” Tang Fei spoke out.
“What conclusion?” the old man asked.
“That you indeed didn’t sleep with Aunt Cheng,” said Tang Fei.
“Didn’t get lucky?”
“…I told you, it’s not that I didn’t get lucky, I just didn’t want to.
I resisted.”
“If you tried a bit harder, the two families could beco one,” Tang Fei said aningfully.
“That way, you could take care of Aunt Cheng more justifiably, and she could tidy up the house.
Little Fatty and I would have better days then.”
Tang Fei had indeed contemplated such a possibility.
If the old man and Aunt Cheng got together, rging the two families into one, they could take care of Aunt Cheng and her daughter more legitimately.
Those who liked to gossip would then lose their ammunition.
We’re sleeping together, so what’s the point of saying there’s sothing between us?
My baseline is even lower than your firing line, so how forceful could your insults be?
And Aunt Cheng and her daughter were hardworking, skilled, and could keep the house in perfect order.
His and Little Fatty’s lives would certainly improve a notch.
At least, after hunting every day, he wouldn’t have to cook for the old man…
Nothing beats a mother’s love, only a child with a mother is considered a treasure.
Tang Fei and Little Fatty had no mother, but they could find an old companion for the old man.
The old man curled his lips and, glancing at Tang Fei from the corner of his eye, said: “Just the other day, Aunt Cheng ntioned to that both you and An Ning are no longer young, you’ve seen each other grow up, and your feelings are very strong…
Why don’t you two just settle for each other?”
Tang Fei was shocked and exclaid, “You’re even targeting now?
I’m still a child!”
“Child?
Look at Old Wang’s kids, so have children at the age of fifteen or sixteen… Look at Blacksmith Zhang’s daughter, your age, she’s already betrothed to be married by the end of this year… Do you think we’re still living in peaceful tis?”
After the catastrophe, animals lived longer and longer while human lifespans got shorter and shorter.
There was no helping it, animals’ survival abilities were much stronger than humans’.
In the beginning, animals, too, were dying off in large numbers.
But with their vast numbers and strong reproduction rates, once they adapted to the dire environnt, they kept mutating and soon beca rulers of this black land.
Humans found it difficult to live in such radiation-rich environnts.
After many deaths, nobody wanted to have children anymore, and those who did found them hard to raise…
So, the human population dwindled on the ruins, while animals beca more nurous.
This is why humans were squeezed into one small gathering area after another, while fierce animals occupied most of the land and sea.
After all, humans always adhered to the basic principle of “if you can beat it, eat it; if you can’t, run.”
Humans saw a “return to antiquity” phenonon, with shorter lifespans, aning earlier marriages.
It’s said that Blue Star laws used to allow marriage for n and won only after they turned eighteen, but now that laws are gone, who would enforce such things?
“Impossible,” Tang Fei shook his head, “It’s impossible between An Ning and .
I’ve always seen her as a sister since we were young… There’s no way that’s happening.”
“What do you an impossible?
It’s hard enough to find a wife these days.
I’m telling you, there are plenty of young n who like An Ning… How many girls her age are there in the entire human community?
Aunt Cheng said to prioritize your match first, and if you don’t like her, she can always be promised to soone else.”
“That’s their family’s business, I have no say in the matter.
Anyway, An Ning and I, it’s just not possible,” Tang Fei said.
“Even though An Ning has a scar on her face, she’s fundantally a good girl, kind-hearted, and she can paint.
You get along well with her…” the old man said worriedly, looking at Tang Fei.
“You don’t like soone like An Ning?
So, what kind do you like?”
Tang Fei inadvertently glanced at Phoenix, and seeing that Phoenix was also staring at him, he felt the nervousness of being caught in the act.
Flushed and stiff-necked, he said, “I don’t know what I like, but just keep out of this…
I’m busy hunting every day, who has ti to think about this?”
Phoenix also spoke up to help, “That’s right, scientific research has proven that getting married too young is detrintal to the health of both n and won…
Especially for won, early childbearing can have an impact…”
Phoenix simply couldn’t ntion words like “uterus” and “ovaries” in front of these “strangers,” and forced herself to say, “It’s particularly bad for a woman’s body, causes significant damage…
I suggest that they consider marriage and childbirth only after the age of eighteen.
New Star has clear regulations that prohibit marriage before eighteen.”
The old man took in the interactions between the two, his gaze flickering, staring at Phoenix he said, “What’s it to you?
I finally found a wife for him, and you discouraged him with a few words…
If he can’t find a wife in the future, are you going to marry him?”
“…”
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